The green light was still flashing, faster and faster than a heartbeat. The Winter Soldier stood two meters away, his mechanical arm slowly rising, a long blade popping out from his wrist, the silver light slicing through the dim power distribution room, aimed straight at Ye Mo's throat.
Ye Mo knelt on one knee, his left shoulder caved into an irregular mass of flesh, and the deep laceration on his right arm exposed the bone. Blood dripped from his fingertips, splashing a small dark red patch on the icy ground. He was panting like a fish being dragged ashore, each breath accompanied by the dull pain of dislocated ribs. His vision blurred at the edges, and his ears were ringing incessantly.
But his eyes were still open.
Bucky didn't move; the red box locked onto the target, the frequency frighteningly stable. He knew the opponent was waiting for the command to refresh—the next strike would be fatal.
But just as the long metal blade was about to pierce through, Ye Mo bit his tongue.
The excruciating pain jolted his mind clear. He wasn't holding on by willpower; he genuinely refused to believe he would die here. His Steel Bone Transformation form was beginning to crumble, his bones reverting to a normal human structure, cracks spreading throughout his body like a shattering windowpane. But at that very moment, he activated the fragment hidden on the seventh floor of the Gene Spiral Tower —a Tissue Regeneration trace left behind at a Mutants battle scene.
There were no system prompts or pop-ups, only a very faint "beep" in my mind, like the first self-test sound of an old-fashioned computer when it's turned on.
Then, the body moved.
It wasn't under his control; the cells started growing wildly on their own.
The broken scapula made a faint "crackling" sound, like countless tiny insects piecing together building blocks under the skin. Muscle fibers twitched, and a faint red glow appeared at the edges of the torn skin. The blood stopped flowing out and instead seeped back into the wound, like a videotape playing in reverse. On the right arm, the deep gash that exposed bone was visibly growing granulation tissue, layer upon layer, until the epidermis quickly closed.
In less than ten seconds, he stood up.
He didn't just stand up; he braced his entire left arm on the ground again, lifted his knees off the ground, and straightened his spine vertebra by vertebra. He raised his hand to wipe his face; his hand was covered in blood, but his movements were swift and decisive, unlike someone who had just been beaten to a pulp.
"I said... it's my turn this time." He growled, his voice hoarse like sandpaper grinding iron, but his eyes were full of fire.
Bucky didn't hesitate, and thrust his long blade straight at him.
Ye Mo dodged to the side, his movement not fast, but just enough to avoid a vital spot. The tip of the knife grazed his neck, drawing a string of blood beads, but for him now, this wound was like a cut while shaving. He didn't even touch his neck, but stared at the spot where he had just knelt—the ice surface still bore traces of blood, while his body was now clean.
Regeneration is complete.
It's not just repair, it's more like an upgrade. Before, using this ability would take several seconds to recover before he could move, but now he can take the next attack right after healing. He knows this is not a coincidence; the system has integrated the Regeneration fragments he had previously come into contact with and hidden them on the seventh floor for him to retrieve. It's like accumulating a bunch of old parts and suddenly having them assembled into a working car.
He grinned, his teeth still bleeding, but this time it wasn't from pain, it was from laughing.
"So you can break too, huh?" He looked at Bucky's robotic arm. "Then let's have a contest to see who can fix it faster?"
Before he finished speaking, he took a step forward.
Captain America, positioned to his side and slightly behind, was ready to rush in and provide backup, but when he saw Ye Mo stand up on his own, he froze. He had just witnessed this guy suffer internal injuries and fractured bones, thinking he would be collecting his corpse in the next second, but not only did he not fall, he even started a counterattack?
"You..." He opened his mouth, wanting to ask, "Are you alright?", but then thought it would be too stupid to ask—the other person had already started pressing forward, how could they not be alright?
Ye Mo spoke first. He grabbed Captain America's arm with such force that he almost pulled the other man over. "I'm not a shield, I'm a partner."
Captain America was stunned.
One second he was thinking, "If you fall, I'm finished," but the person in front of him didn't see himself as a expendable resource at all. He wasn't taking a hit for anyone; he genuinely intended to fight Bucky head-on.
"So stop hiding it." Ye Mo took a breath, his eyes never leaving Bucky. "If you believe I can still fight, stand next to me. Don't always try to carry the load alone."
Captain America paused for two seconds, then slowly nodded. "Then let's all go together."
The two stood back to back, three steps apart, forming a pincer attack. Ye Mo whispered, "His next move will definitely be aimed at my face. It's fast, but there's a 0.3-second delay in finishing the attack—wait until he retracts his blade and then circle around behind him. Don't be afraid of bumping into me."
"You could have predicted that?" Captain America frowned.
"It's not prediction, it's memorization," Ye Mo sneered. "I was hit five rounds just now, and the rhythm was the same every round. This guy is programmed; his movements are etched into his code, and he can't change them."
Sure enough, Bucky charged forward again, his long blade aimed straight at Ye Mo's head. Ye Mo dodged to the side, his movements much more agile than before. His Regeneration body seemed to have shed some kind of burden, reacting faster and with stronger muscle coordination. The Blade grazed past, leaving only a shallow mark on his forehead; the blood that had just seeped out was swallowed back by his rapidly closing skin.
Just as the long blade missed its target and the hydraulic arm retracted, Captain America moved. He darted behind Bucky, his shield sweeping out and slamming into the joint of the mechanical arm.
"Bang!"
A metallic clang rang out, shaking the entire power distribution room. Bucky staggered, forced to turn defensively, and the red frame flashing briefly became erratic.
Ye Mo immediately followed up with a kick, striking Bucky in the back of his supporting leg's knee. Bucky staggered half a step, and before he could regain his balance, Captain America's second shield bash struck him directly in the chest armor.
Thump!
The blow forced him back two steps, and a large amount of white mist spewed out of the heat sink, clearly indicating that the internal system had been impacted.
But that's where it ends. The green light on the UPS host suddenly jumped, and the frequency increased, as if the signal had been recalibrated remotely. The Bucky stabilized, the red frame returned to stability, and the robotic arm slowly lifted, re-entering its combat stance.
Ye Mo was panting. Although Regeneration was fast, it consumed a great deal of energy. Now his whole body felt like it had been drained, and his limbs were weak. He looked down at his hands; his fingertips were still trembling, but at least he could clench his fists.
"Again," he said.
Captain America stood beside him, shield held horizontally in front of his chest, his breathing heavier. "How much longer can you hold on?"
"I don't know," Ye Mo smiled, "But as long as he's still refreshing the commands, there will be a weakness. We just need to seize that fraction of a second."
"You seem quite philosophical about it." Captain America glanced at him.
"What else can we do if we don't open it?" Ye Mo shrugged. "Lying on the ground crying and begging for mercy? I might as well let Bucky just stab me."
The two exchanged a glance, saying nothing more. On the battlefield, what you can trust isn't oaths, but whether the person standing shoulder to shoulder hasn't retreated.
Bucky closed in again, his pace still steady, but this time with a change—no longer a straight-line charge, but a diagonal slide, attempting to create an angle to attack Captain America. Ye Mo immediately noticed, stepping aside to block him, while whispering a reminder: "He's testing a new tactic, which means the ranged units are starting to adjust."
"Then don't let them get used to it." Captain America growled, taking the initiative to meet the attack. His shield blocked the sweeping mechanical arm, and the two exchanged three blows in an instant, the sound of metal clashing as dense as drumbeats.
Ye Mo didn't rush to intervene, but instead observed. He noticed that each time the green light flashed, Bucky's movements would be subtly delayed, as if the system was reloading instructions. This gap, though short, was enough.
He slowly moved his wrist; the Regeneration ability was still flowing through his body, like a warm river. He knew this state couldn't last long; he had to find a breakthrough as soon as possible.
But just then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the frozen UPS unit in the corner of the wall, and the green light suddenly stopped.
One second.
In just a second, the red frame went out.
Bucky's movements came to an abrupt halt; he stood rooted to the spot, like a machine that had lost power.
Ye Mo's pupils contracted.
The opportunity has arrived.
Just as he was about to remind Captain America, he saw Bucky's mechanical arm suddenly tremble, the red frame lit up again, but the color changed—from bright red to dark red, and the flashing frequency was no longer regular.
"Something's not right..." Ye Mo murmured.
Captain America sensed it too, took a half step back, and gripped his shield tightly. "What's wrong with him?"
Ye Mo didn't answer. He stared at Bucky's face, those eyes that were originally empty and lifeless, but now seemed to flash with a struggle—extremely brief, as quick as an illusion.
But he saw it.
In that instant, Bucky's eye twitched slightly, as if he wanted to say something, or as if he was resisting something.
Then, the green light flashed wildly, the red frame blazed brightly, the robotic arm emitted a piercing start-up sound, and the long blade popped out again.
"Watch out!" Ye Mo shoved Captain America aside.
Bucky launched a sudden attack, lunging straight at Ye Mo's face.
Ye Mo raised his hand to block, instantly activating his Steel Bone Transformation. His arm collided with the long blade, sparks flying. He was forced back three steps by the blow, his feet carving two deep gashes on the ice, but he did not fall.
The Regeneration ability was activated again, and the cut on my arm healed rapidly.
He looked up at the controlled soldier in front of him and suddenly whispered, "Brother, I know you're in there."
Bucky didn't react; the red box locked the position, and the robotic arm was poised to launch.
Ye Mo straightened up, wiped the blood and sweat from his face, and said in a low voice, "Then let's keep fighting—it's not the first time I've gambled my life like this."
Captain America stood beside him, shield raised, and said in a deep voice, "This time, I'll shield your back."
Ye Mo grinned. "Deal."
The two men stood still again, facing the enemy two meters away. The battle was not over, and the situation remained tense. The sound of machinery churning in the distance rose again, closer and clearer than before.